Reviews: Animal Well
Spoiler free review of the game Animal Well on the steam deck
At Margot Plays, I review games that I have played focused on my experience, which is evolving as I play more games. In general the games’ story will have been completed, on easy mode if applicable and unless stated otherwise played on the steam deck OLED.
About the game
Explore a dense, interconnected labyrinth, and unravel its many secrets. Collect items to manipulate your environment in surprising and meaningful ways. Encounter beautiful and unsettling creatures, as you attempt to survive what lurks in the dark. There is more than what you see.
Margot’s stats
Device: Steam Deck OLED
Difficulty: NA
Completed: yes
Time: ~15 hours
Summary: I have had this on my list for far too long. The art, the setting, the animals. I was so intrigued by this game. And it is a metroidvania too! I was scared off by the metroidBRAInia aspect of it for a little while but decided to give it a go last month and instantly fell in love with the art. Once I was used to the platforming and figured a few puzzles out I was locked in! Great charming game.
When I first got my steam deck and started to consume lots and lots of indie game media, the hype for Animal Well was prominent. Nevertheless I did not buy it straight away, but it ticked a lot of boxes. The retro art style, being 2D, lots of animal art and I really liked this idea of a hidden world that inspired the developer.
Narrative and Gameplay
Essentially you play as a nondescript little ball character and are tasked with exploring this beautiful but dark place which is themed according to many animals.
There isn’t any dialogue as such, and exploration and experimentation are the main game philosophies. You are tasked with finding eggs and 4 flames around the world, and in the process you discover items that help you move around, or can affect the environment in some way.
I found that generally when I thought “I wonder if I can do X”, I either could straight away or I would be able to a short while later, to get to an new area or a secret tunnel.
While there isn’t any straight forward combat, there are some items you can use to deter hostile creatures.
The rest of the gameplay is about being brave, exploring and solving a variety of puzzles with the items you have in the moment or ones you will find later.
I managed to roll credits in about 10 hours. But this is in a way only one of the endings, and not necessarily the true ending. I did assume I would stop there and write this review, but I have been going back over and over again to find more eggs and items. I kind of do want another ending :D
What makes me go back? It is the pull of exploring and discovering more hidden secrets and eggs. You can look at the map you have discovered so far and maybe you will see a tiny gap or discoloured pixel and exploring that part more often than not leads to another egg, room, or something unexpected. This is really satisfying.
One big tip I have is to use the stamps for the map once you unlock them. Considering I love metroidvanias I never learn and don’t do this. lol.
However there are some things to be aware of.
Metroidbrainia
A comment on the metroidbrainia element - a knowledge-gated game with metroidvania elements such as non linear exploration.
I do put this game in this category as it really doesn’t tell you much but wants you to explore and experiment. Play in essence. This is fine and all, but some things were completely out of my possibility of figuring out. It does have some puzzles which are knowledge gated to me, and I had to look up. Obviously the community figured this all out now and even the puzzles the developer never thought would be found, have been found and solved. So I can just look things up or ask what something means as I come across it.
But it does frustrate me a little bit that some games have this big secret element, that for us mere mortals who play games with limited time is hidden away and we may never find. This might just be my own fear of missing out. But I am not above looking things up, which does take some of the fun away. I struggled more with this game and some of its more obscure puzzles than I did with Tunic, which is also in a similar category.
In a way I am not sure why I wanted to complain about this element of the game. The main storyline is very achievable without ever googling anything for sure. So don’t be put off like I was initially. You can definitely experience the game and have a nice time with it, even as a mere mortal gamer. :)
Graphics and Sound
Before I go, I do have to comment on the graphics, art style and sounds.
I didn’t expect Animal Well to feel this alive considering it is a retro art style game. At first glance, it’s just pixel art with a cute, nostalgic vibe. Think playing on an old CRT TV. But on closer inspection the really clever thing to me is the use of light. Plants glow, shadows twitch, and suddenly you’re not just wandering; you’re observing the environment. Which is really clever considering the need to explore. The art design draws you in and encourages you to look at all details.
Colors shift from warm oranges to eerie purples, and every flicker of light feels like it’s hiding a secret. This can be a bit eerie too. Keeping an eye out in case something jumps out at you. I did experience 2 jump scares. :D
The sound design is also really clever and I saw that a lot of it is just the developer saying words and morphing these in synthesisers etc. (sorry I don’t know much about sounds and instruments). But the sound design is not just background noise, it’s part of the puzzle. Echoes bounce off cavern walls, critters chirp in ways that make you wonder if they’re friendly or plotting something, and the ambient hum keeps you slightly unsettled. Also you keep wondering what it means. There is a repetitive sound that sort of means something but it will take a while to discover what.
Overall this is a charming strange experience, cute on the surface, but layered with atmosphere and tension and puzzles that keeps you hooked.
Have you played Animal Well? Are you into metroidvania / metroidbrainia?
Really thoughtful take on the metroidbrainia dilemma. That tension between wanting every secret accessible versus preserving the thrill of genuine discovery is someting games like this navigate constantly. What I find interesting is how Animal Well seems to layer its secrets so the core experience remains satifying even if the deepest puzzles stay hidden, almost like optional hard modes embedded in the world itself. The OLED display probably makes those subtle visual cues even mor rewarding to hunt for.
It's on my wishlist! I just think it looks beautiful.